fMRI

In 2015, Emma Barratt and Nick Davis published the first peer-reviewed research study about ASMR. Their data were collected from online surveys and were very helpful to provide support about the sensations and potential applications of ASMR.

Now, Stephen Smith, Beverley Fredborg, and Jennifer Kornelsen from the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada have published the second peer-reviewed research study about ASMR.

A key difference between these two publication is that the more recent publication by Smith et al is the first biological publication about ASMR.

In 2012, Bryson Lochte selected ASMR as his research topic for his undergraduate Senior Honors Thesis at Dartmouth College. He chose to investigate the effects of ASMR videos on the brain by using fMRI analysis.

fMRI stands for functional magnetic resonance imaging and reveals changes in the blood flow to specific areas of the brain. His project’s goal was to demonstrate which areas of the brain show increased activity while participants watched ASMR videos.

In February of 2013 Bryson posted a thread on the ASMR subreddit website requesting volunteers for his research project. He completed his thesis by May and submitted the results to the Dartmouth College Library Catalog.

In November, 2013 Bryson posted on the ASMR subreddit site that he would not be able to publicly release a copy of his thesis until his data was published.

Bryson graduated from Dartmouth College in 2013 with his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience. He is currently a medical student at the University of California, San Diego.

In my interview with Bryson he shares an update on his undergraduate thesis data, his inspiration for delving into ASMR research, his current ASMR research project, his insights into the biology of ASMR, advice for those researching ASMR, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, his replies in italics, and links to his website, his LinkedIn page, and his original ASMR subreddit post.